Angie's first auction may turn out to be her last--when she bids on a coat of arms that someone would literally kill to possess . . .

Tagging along to an estate sale with her fellow Needlepointer, antiques shop owner Sarah Byrne, Angie Curtis impulsively bids on a tattered embroidery of a coat of arms. When she gets her prize back home to Haven Harbor, she discovers a document from 1757 behind the framed needlework--a claim for a child from a foundling hospital. Intrigued, Angie is determined to find the common thread between the child and the coat of arms.

Accepting her reporter friend Clem Walker's invitation to talk about her find on the local TV news, Angie makes an appeal to anyone who might have information. Instead, both women receive death threats. When Clem is found shot to death in a parking lot, Angie fears her own life may be in jeopardy. She has to unravel this historical mystery--or she may be the next one going, going . . . gone . . .

My Thoughts:

This book follows Angie Curtis whose gone to her first auction and bought a coat of arms what she didn't count on was what was inside the artwork. A certificate given when a child is given up to a hospital with only the name Charles. What happened to the baby is anyone's guess. Angie finds herself caught up in wanting to know the truth and with her friend Clem puts up a video on the news to find out more about the coat of arms. What she didn't count on was the Clem being murdered and why?

Angie's life becomes in more danger as the days go by and Angie is reduced to hiding out. Will the threats being sent to her ever end and how is it connected to a coat of arms? Can Angie solve it with her normal methods when she is in hiding?

I love this series Lea Wait offers up so much in her latest book. She pulls you in the and won't let go until you uncover the murderer. This book is so addicting you can't help but getting pulled in to Haven Harbor Maine. Can't wait to see what is next for Angie and her family and friends!

Callie Reed has put together a special event, but a killer is ripping it apart at the seams

As the new owner of a music box store in Keepsake Cove, a quaint town full of collectible shops on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Callie Reed is eager to get more involved in her community. So she volunteers to plan the fall street decorations and welcome a visiting author who's come for a special book signing. But the celebratory mood is cut short when the local B&B owner is found dead, killed with a pair of vintage scissors.

Suspicion is cast on the victim's estranged wife, Dorothy, who owns Keepsake Cove's vintage sewing shop. Callie is sure Dorothy is innocent, and the visiting author agrees. Together, they begin their own investigation, only to discover that many people in Keepsake Cove have secrets. Secrets that are worth killing to keep.

My Thoughts:

This book follows Callie Reed who is getting more involved with Keepsake Cove and volunteers to plan the decorations for fall on the street and help with the book tour coming to town. Not long into this the local innkeeper is found dead and Dorothy his estranged wife is being looked at way to closely. When the pressure is on and another person winds up dead Callie and local author Lyssa decided to help those involved and get to the bottom of what is going on. Will Callie and Lyssa figure it out in time or would their goose get cooked.

This book is such a great add on to the series. We get to see how the locals are doing and meet new people as they introduced. This one brought on Lyssa a local mystery author who became fast friends with Callie. She fits quite well with the locals. You get the pleasure of the girls working through the case to find out the murderer and why!

Rural Pennsylvania’s Vance Township Police Chief Pete Adams is down an officer and has been dealing with extra shifts as well as a pair of bickering neighbors, one of whom owns a machete and isn’t afraid to use it.

Golden Oaks Assisted Living is outside Pete’s jurisdiction, but a murder in the facility his Alzheimer’s-afflicted father calls home makes the case personal.

Paramedic and Deputy Coroner Zoe Chambers has been itching for an opportunity to take the lead in a death investigation. She gets her chance when her boss is hospitalized and not only assigns her to the Golden Oaks homicide but puts her in charge of the county coroner’s office.

As if she doesn’t have enough to handle, a long-lost, over-protective, older half-brother walks into her life threatening to drive a wedge between her and the man she loves.

A second dead body leads them to realize the case may have dark ties to a distant past…and if Zoe doesn’t untangle the web of lies, Pete will be the one to pay the ultimate price.

My Thoughts:

This book follows Zoey and Pete Adams who are working a case where one neighbor is trying to hurt the other. As Zoey and Pete try to get to the bottom of this issue there is the situation at Golden Oaks where Pete's father resides. When a retired cop winds up dead the pressure is on to resolve the issue before Pete's dad becomes a target!

Zoey finds out she has a long lost half brother who seems intent on helping Zoey fix up her house her mother gave her. Pete wonders about the lost brother and whether it's legit. As they dig deeper and deeper it become evident he's more than he claims.

This book was great it pulls you into the world of Zoey and Pete and their friends and co-workers. It makes you wonder if they will ever figure out who killed the cop. I love this series it's fun and you see it from a different angle of Police Chief and EMT. Can't wait to see where they lead to next!

A hostile town. A mountaintop mission. Will their magic save the day or spoil the pudding?

Imogen thought escaping the king's wrath would give her everything she wanted. But her relationship with Prince Hank is tougher than an overcooked flan and the welcome they get on Badlands Island is far less than friendly. Accused of kidnapping, Imogen proposes they prove their worth by traveling through a deadly forest to retrieve a magical herb at the top of a mountain…

Forced to take her baking skills on the road, Imogen and her friends must navigate monsters, secrets, and a possible traitor. And the little matter of the impending typhoon is seriously compressing their timeline…

With the storm and creatures closing in, can Imogen complete the quest or will her next meal be her last?

Due East, Beasts & Campfire Feasts in the seventh book in the Spells & Caramels series of paranormal cozy mysteries. If you like amateur witch sleuths, unbreakable friendships, and fascinating magical creatures, then you'll love Erin Johnson's page-turning adventure.

My Thoughts:

This book follows Imogen and her friends as they have escaped the King's wrath only to find themselves in a worse scenario the Bad Lands. There they get brought to an area where people reside and Imogen has to prove they haven't done what they have been accused of and the only thing Imogen can think of is to go on a wild goose chase for an herb for medicine for people back into the depth of the Bad Lands and hope that they get what they are looking for and arrive home to prove their worth. Will they survive or will a possible typhoon impend their travel?

This book has so much going on including continuing exactly where they left off. Of course they have their issues going on especially between Hank and Imogen. Watching to see how everyone will succeed or not was captivating. Definitely a fabulous series for all those witch mystery lovers.

An unwelcome visitor, an unrequited love, and a dead body create chaos in a middle-aged woman’s plan for a productive summer.

Despite a looming divorce, an empty checkbook, and a struggling cleaning business, Cece Cavanaugh is determined to land on her own two feet. Adamant about staying a safe distance from the handsome detective who has her fantasizing about violating the morals clause in her prenuptial agreement, Cece dives headlong into her work.

Even though she has no free time to spare, Cece finds herself guilted into cleaning a hoarder’s home. Her discoveries in the condemned house are too shocking to ignore. Diamond-laden pachyderms, a secret cache of money, and a dead body lure Cece into launching an investigation that places her in direct contact with the one person she’s desperate to avoid--hunky Detective Case Alder.

With clues in hand, Cece runs down leads and eliminates suspects one by one. Her conclusion and brave accusation put a friend’s life in peril forcing Cece to hatch a plan to outsmart the killer. A daring move could either save Cece and her friend or lead to their demise.

My Thoughts:

This book follows Cece whose moving past her married life and getting a divorce and learning to be on her own two feet. Cece finds herself helping her friend clean her mother's house which is a horder's dream come true. When a murder occurs she winds up in contact with Case Adler the detective she's been trying to avoid will she figure out who the murder is and why? Or will she become the next victim?

This book was a great adventure to read and also showed how moving on from bad things can be hard but you can over come anything. The book has a great set of characters that you meet from Cece's friends to a nosy neighbor. Definitely a great series for all mystery lovers!

Thursday, November 1, 2018

I recently had the chance to sit down with author Duffy Brown and talk to her about her latest book Tandem Demise. So I think you will enjoy it as much as I did!

How did you come to write cozy mysteries?

I used to write romance. I wrote for Harlequin and Kensington until my editor said my stories were more mystery than romance and I realized I liked writing the mystery part much more than the romance. I love Janet Evanovich! I love the humor and the setting and decided I wanted to make readers laugh too. I work at a consignment shop and they say write what you know so I started the Consignment Shop mysteries. Then I took a trip to Mackinac Island and knew I wanted to set a series there. Cycle Path...take off on psychopath...was born.

Who Inspires your books?

Everyone and everything. So often I’m talking to someone and they say something funny or tell me what happened to that that is hugely entertaining and I always say…that’s going in a book! Inspiration is everywhere. I want to have fun things happen and still have a murder mystery. I do that by killing off the bad guy or gal, the one who has it coming. This also gives me a ton of suspects as everyone is doing the happy dance this person is toast. The settings are so inspiring. Anyone who visits Savannah or Mackinac Island has surely wanted to set a story there. Savannah is so, so, so haunted and Mackinac Island with no cars and big horses and bikes is made for a terrific mystery.

Do you have a favorite character or book?

Auntie KiKi from my Consignment Shop series is the auntie we all should have in our lives. She jumps firsts then thinks about where she’ll land. To KiKi, family is everything. She’s a southern belle with lots of spunk. She says all the things I wish I’d said in tough spots. She’s married to a heart surgeon that everyone calls Doc Putter because he carries a putter everywhere. Two of the most fun characters ever, they write themselves.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

Writers are always writing. LOL Also, I have 4 grandkids and work at the Snooty Fox consignment shop. There are never enough hours in a day. I do love watching Midsomer Murders and Father Brown. Anything Sherlock and I’m IN! My license plate is Shrlok 1 and Shrlok 2.

What made you decide on the cycle mysteries? Was it the location or the whole riding bikes around?

Everything about Mackinac is so much fun. That there are no cars and rotten cell phone service adds a lot on intrigue all by itself. Also that the only way to and from the island is ferry service is terrific. Once the last ferry leaves you are stuck on the island. And in the dead of winter there is no ferry service. Gotta love that for a good mystery. There are only 500 fulltime residents on the island and the rest tourists makes for a very close group of friends.

If you were stuck on a deserted island what are three things you would have with you out of anything?

Well, I’d like to have my husband. He’s one of those guys that if they had a toothpick and a knife they’d build you a bridge. My husband could get us off the island for sure. LOL But if it’s just me I’d want books. You can find out how to do anything in books. That way I could survive and be entertained. And what good is live without diet Coke and of course I want paper and pencil to write. I cannot imagine life without writing.

Do you have any new books out or coming out you'd like to share with my readers?

Tandem Demise, book 3 in the Cycle Path mysteries just came out. I’m starting on book 6, Wedding Day and Foul Play, of the Consignment Shop mysteries. Thanks so much for asking.

Author Biography:

Duffy Brown loves anything with a mystery. While others girls dreamed of dating Brad Pitt, Duffy longed to take Sherlock Holmes to the prom. She is a National Bestselling author and now conjures up who-done-it stories of her very own. She has two series the Consignment Shop Mysteries set in Savannah along with rescue pup Bruce Willis and the Cycle Path Mysteries set on Mackinac Island with judgmental cats Cleveland and Bambino.